LD31 Post Mortem, or whatever you want to call it

So, after hiding myself from my family as best I could, I settled down to think of a game theme… that could be played on just one screen. Settled down is a bit strong, on reflection – I couldn’t think of anything for the first couple of hours!

So, some wine was quaffed and some junk food was consumed, which seemed to help. And this is the end result:

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=28437

A physics puzzle game – match 4 or more falling objects that are next to each other (click with the mouse) and they explode, give you points, and mix things up a bit. I had never made a fully functioning physics game before, so it was a good challenge putting this together. Of course, some things went well and some have helped me learn for the future….

The good bits: the physics interaction between the falling objects is quite satisfying, and so are the explosions when you match the objects.

The not so good: the game lasts a bit too long – perhaps you should be able to run for as long as you can, rather than having a time limit – and the dispense system works but doesn’t add to the game’s pleasure. To be a better part of the challenge, if I could do it again, I think I would have the player choose when to dispense each object – to bring the dispenser into the game more (perhaps with a count down time so you can’t wait forever). Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

I’m already looking forward to LD32!! Come on, already!